Prefabricated valve and drain unit



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; ATTOI April 1958 w. s. HERTENSTEIN ET AL PREFABRICATED VALVEANDDRAINUNIT Filed March 28, 1956 United States Patent PREFABRICATED VALVEAND DRAIN UNIT Warren S. Hertenstein, Morton, and William E. Blessing,Bartonville, Ill.

Application March 28, 1956, Serial No. 574,408

3 Claims. (Cl. 4-1

This invention relates to improvements in plumbing systems and inparticular to prefabricated valve and drain unit installations.

In the past, considerable difficulty has been encountered in theinstallation of hot and cold water outlets and the drain system thereforto be used in conjunction with washing machines, such as automaticwashers, and other similar equipment. in modern homes, efforts have beenmade to hide the plumbing installations in order to give an attractiveappearance to the room in which the washing machine has been placed.Most modern homes have finished utility rooms either in the basement oron the ground floor for laundry equipment and the like. Many housewiveshave these machines located in their kitchen to add to the decor of thekitchen and to save time and effort because of the convenience oflocation.

In order to make the washing machine installation at tractive, theplumber has to fabricate his pipe, valves, and drain in the wall, eachseparately. The plumbing for these machines must then be boxed in,lathed, cornerbead fitted, and then the wall must be plastered andpainted. In the construction of new homes, the carpenter and lathercannot complete their work until the plumber has fabri cated his pipe,valve and drain in the wall. All of this takes considerable time causingdelays and increased cost in construction.

It is an object of this invention to provide a single unit which can beinstalled in a very short period of time.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a prefabricated valveand drain unit which eliminates much of the carpentering, lathing,plastering and painting work heretofore involved in the installation ofvalve and drain equipment.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a prefabricated valveand drain unit which is inexpensive to manufacture.

Another object of this invention is to provide an adjustableprefabricated valve and drain unit.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will beapparent from the following description and claims.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example variousembodiments of this invention;

Fig. 1 shows a fragmentary section of a wall with the prefabricatedvalve and drain unit installed, and a side elevational view of a washingmachine connected to the unit;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a wall having thevalve and drain'unit installed therein, with portions of the wall brokenaway;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 looking in thedirection of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 2 looking in thedirection of the arrows.

As shown in Figs. 1 through 4, the prefabricated drain and valve unit 5hereafter referred to merely as the unit, comprises a rectangular frameor box-like member of sheet metal, plastic, wood, or other similarmaterial having a top plate ill, a bottom plate 12 and side plates 13"ice and 14. Plates 11, 12, 13 and 14 are welded or otherwise securedtogether at their ends in order to give frame 10 rigidity. The plates11, 12, 13 and 14 are secured to a dust plate 15 by any means such aswelding, nailing, gluing, or the like.

Bottom plate 12 has an opening in which is fitted and secured by meansof welding or the like, a drain coupling 21 which is adapted to beconnected to a standard drain pipe.

Side plates 13 and 14 are provided with adjustment slots (Fig. 3). Angleplates 31 and 32 are connected to the side plates 13 and 14 by studbolts 33 which engage in slots 33. Nuts 34 engage the bolts 33 andprovide means for locking angle plates 31 and 32 against movement of thebolts 34 in adjustment slots 30 of the plates 13 and 14. Angie plates 31and 32 have holes 35, Fig. 2, for receiving placement screws 36 as bestshown in Fig. 4.

An upright plate 40 is welded or otherwise secured to the top plate 11at a distance somewhat removed from the front edge thereof for reasonshereinafter explained. Upright plate 40 has openings therein to receivehot and cold shutoff valves 50. Valves have a T type base 51 as bestshown in Fig. l. A hose nipple 52 extends from each valve base 51downwardly through holes in plate 11 and projects into the frame member10 a short distance. Threads or other means may be provided on the endsof nipples 52 for engaging a hose coupling 53. Escutcheons 54 are fittedto the projecting end of nipples 52.

The unit 5 comes preferably fabricated with shutoff valves 50, havingvalve bases 51, and nipples 52 and escutcheons 54. These parts may,however, be removed in order to permit the use of different styleshutoff valves 50 depending upon the wishes of the customer into whosehome the unit is to be installed.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, the unit is mounted in a wall W. Angleplates 31 and 32 are secured by means of screws, nails or the like toadjacent studs or joists J in the wall W. Slots 30 allow for adjustmentof the frame It) with respect to secured plates 31 and 32 so that thefront edge of frame 10 will be flush with the external surface of thewall W. The plate 40 and the drain coupling 21 are sufficiently removedfrom the front portion of the plates 11 and 12 of the frame 10 so thatplaster or Wallboard P may be placed in the front thereof in order tocover up members 40 and 21.

Water pipe 7t? is connected to valve bases 51 and drain pipe 71 isconnected to drain coupling 21. A washing machine M as shown in Fig. lis connected to unit 5 by an outlet hose which empties into the draincoupling 21 and by connecting hose members 81 having hose couplings 53which are attached to nipples 52.

The dust plate 15 acts as a dust and dirt guard and seals off the insideof wall W from view. This dust plate 15 and the frame It may be painteda color similar to the room in order to maintain the attractiveappearance of the room.

It will be understood that this invention is capable of furthermodification, and this specification is intended to cover anyvariations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general,the principies of the invention and including such departures from thepresent disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the artto which the invention pertains, and as may be applied to the essentialfeatures hereinbefore set forth and as fall Within the scope of theinvention or the limits of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention what we claim is:

1. A prefabricated valve and drain unit for walls comprising a framehaving top, bottom, and side walls, said bottom plate having a holetherein, a drain coupling connected to said bottom plate and seated insaid hole, said top plate being coextensive with said bottom plate andhaving an upright plate secured to the outside surface thereof, saidupright plate mounted perpendicularly to said top plate at a distancefrom the front edge thereof which is equal to the thickness of the Wallsurface behind which the unit is to be mounted, said upright platehaving a hole therein, a shut-01f valve stem inserted in the hole ofsaid upright plate, a T type valve body associated with said valve stemlocated immediately behind said upright plate, said top plate having ahole therein which is vertically aligned with the corresponding hole ofsaid upright plate, a hose nipple inserted in the hole of said topplate, said T type valve and said hose nipple being connected, and meansfor securing said unit Within said wall so that the outer edges of saidframe are flush with the outer surface of said Wall.

2. A prefabricated valve and drain unit for Walls as claimed in claim 1having a dust plate secured to the rear edges of said frame, said framebeing rectangular in shape, and wherein said securing means for saidunit comprises an angle plate having threaded bolt-like membersconnected thereto and extending from one surface thereof, a plurality ofhorizontally disposed rectangularly shaped slots in each of said sideplates, said stud members being adjustably secured in said slots by nutsthreaded on said studs.

3. The combination of a Wall and a prefabricated valve and drain unit,said unit comprising a frame having top, bottom, and side plates and adust plate secured to the rear edge of said frame, said bottom platehaving a hole therein, a drain coupling connected to said bottom plateand seated in said hole Which is spaced from the front edge of saidbottom plate, said top plate being coextensive with said bottom plateand having an upright plate secured to the outside surface thereof, saidupright plate mounted perpendicularly to said top plate at a distancefrom the front edge thereof which is equal to the thickness of the Wallsurface behind which the unit is to be mounted, said upright platehaving a hole therein, a valve stem mounted in said hole in said uprightplate, a T type valve body associated with said valve stem and locatedimmediately behind said upright plate, said top plate having a holetherein, a hose nipple mounted in the hole in said top plate andthreadedly connected to said valve body, wit? wall having a pair ofspaced joists, an angle plate mounted on each of said joists, said angleplates having a plurality of threaded stud members extending from onesurface thereof, said side plates being provided with a plurality ofhorizontally disposed rectangularly shaped the threaded studs on saidangle plates extending slots and adjustably secured therein by nutsthreaded on said stubs, whereby said unit is located between saidjoists, said wall having a plastered outer surface, the front edges ofsaid frame flush with the outer surface of said plaster, said uprightplate and said drain coupling being located behind said plaster, andsaid valve stem extending through and beyond the outer surface of saidplaster.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,317,829 Shroyer Get. 7, 1919 1,354,680 Nuhring Oct. 5, 1920 1,602,556Shroyer Oct. 12, 2926 1,705,768 Johnson et al Mar. 19, 1929 2,658,232Colonna NOV. 10, 1953 FORElGN PATENTS 172,299 Switzerland Dec. 17, 1934

